Inside Birmingham's Heartlands hospital + NHS | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/series/inside-birmingham-s-heartlands-hospital+nhs
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A&amp;E in the NHS: 'It's different from TV. These are real people'http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/13/emergency-care-in-nhs
In her final report from Birmingham's Heartlands hospital, Amelia Gentleman discovers how 999 care is battling to cope with soaring demand while having to cut budgets<p>Just before 5pm, during a momentary afternoon lull, paediatrics nurse Martin Dean is leaning against the counter in the cluttered nurses' tearoom. As his tea bag stews a&nbsp;Tannoy alert warns A&amp;E staff that a three-year-old who has been hit by a car will shortly arrive by ambulance.</p><p>He leaves his tea, walks back through the corridors, past a drunk, blood-smeared woman who is wandering around the corridors weeping and swearing, back to the resuscitation room, where staff are preparing a bed for the child. Someone has written &quot;Car vs Child&quot; on a whiteboard by the bed in red marker pen.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/13/emergency-care-in-nhs">Continue reading...</a>NHSHealthSocietyHealth & wellbeingLife and styleA&EWed, 13 Jul 2011 19:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/13/emergency-care-in-nhsChristopher Thomond/GuardianA&E is equipped to deal with real emergencies, but can struggle to keep up with the unceasing flow of patients. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the GuardianChristopher Thomond/GuardianA&amp;E is equipped to deal with real emergencies, but can struggle to keep up with the unceasing flow of patients. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the GuardianAmelia Gentleman2011-07-13T19:30:00ZElderly care in the NHS: 'There is nowhere for people to go'http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/12/elderly-care-in-nhs
The NHS is desperate to cut beds and the time people stay in them. But many frail old patients must remain on the wards because there is no suitable care for them at home. In the second of three reports from Birmingham's busy Heartlands hospital, Amelia Gentleman spends a day in the packed elderly care unit<p>Michael Kamalarajan, consultant in elderly medicine, scans his eyes down the list of&nbsp;28 patients and wonders who he can send home. He runs through the names from another era – Beryl, Florence, Ivy, Una, Winifred, Frederick, Raymond, Albert, Cyril, Walter, Margaret, Olive – searching for someone who might be ready to be discharged.</p><p>It's a frustrating morning meeting. The locum doctor is running behind, the occupational therapist is on long-term sick leave and the physiotherapist is not on rota to work today, which makes it challenging to get the documents in place so patients can be cleared to leave.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/12/elderly-care-in-nhs">Continue reading...</a>NHSHealthHealth policyOlder peopleSocietyHealth & wellbeingUK newsTue, 12 Jul 2011 19:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/12/elderly-care-in-nhsChristopher Thomond/GuardianThe elderly care assessment unit at Heartlands hospital. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the GuardianChristopher Thomond/GuardianThe elderly care assessment unit at Heartlands hospital. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the GuardianAmelia Gentleman2011-07-12T19:30:00ZObesity and the NHS: 'People here are in big trouble'http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/11/obesity-nhs-people-big-trouble
Obesity rates have quadrupled in the past 25 years – one in four adults are now overweight. But as demand for treatment grows, hospital budgets are shrinking. In the first of three reports on the pressures facing the NHS, Amelia Gentleman talks to doctors and patients at one of the UK's busiest diabetes clinics<p>A young man drags himself slowly in to Dr Shahrad Taheri's weight management clinic, leaning heavily on a stick, with the curious gait of someone whose legs are pushed into an awkward angle below the knee, splayed by excess flesh around the thighs. The tremendous weight he carries has injured his spine, and walking is very painful.</p><p>&quot;I've put in for a wheelchair. I've not got one yet,&quot; he says. He thinks the delay is due to NHS funding constraints. Peter is 30 and morbidly obese.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/11/obesity-nhs-people-big-trouble">Continue reading...</a>ObesitySocietyNHSHealthPublic sector cutsHealth policyHealth & wellbeingLife and styleMon, 11 Jul 2011 18:59:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/11/obesity-nhs-people-big-troubleChristopher Thomond/GuardianA patient attends the Heartlands hospital diabetes clinic in Birmingham. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the GuardianChristopher Thomond/GuardianA patient attends the Heartlands hospital diabetes clinic in Birmingham. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the GuardianAmelia Gentleman2011-07-11T18:59:00Z